Overview
HBO partnered with Digital Media Management (DMM) to elevate the His Dark Materials social channels to engage both existing fans and new audiences through a new stylistic aesthetic, tonal approach, and robust community management strategy.
His Dark Materials Season 2
Guiding audiences through the new worlds of HBO’s His Dark Materials for the show’s fantastical second season.
OBJECTIVES
DMM was tasked to enhance the His Dark Materials socials by cultivating a strong in-world voice and producing high-concept creatives that reflect HBO’s notorious premium quality. The campaign went beyond traditional social channels with an Animal Crossing: New Horizons video game activation, where DMM partnered with a digital design team to create custom in-game character-inspired outfits. We additionally amplified the activation with a UGC and influencer layer, where our custom-created lead character, Lyra, visited other players’ game islands, gifting in-world items throughout premiere day. DMM also concepted and created unique interactive assets to promote HBO’s adjoining mobile app, My Daemon. Leaning heavily into community management, we engaged not just with existing fans and talent, but additional HBO channels and outside entertainment properties to garner new audiences. DMM also enhanced promotional partnerships, a Twitter emoji auto-reply campaign and a Fooji activation, through extensive engagement plays, creating a unique and personal experience for fans.
RESULTS
His Dark Materials received positive acclaim from fans, both old and new, throughout the season. By overhauling the creative strategy, integrating social-adjacent activations, and focusing on our community management efforts throughout the season, we became a go-to leading source of His Dark Materials content, despite an existing international show account. Thanks to the accounts’ unique voice and tone that was supportive, cheeky, and knowledgeable, DMM drew in new audiences and engaged those who have been invested in a world that has existed for over 25 years. By engaging weekly through live-tweeting, playfully interacting daily with the series’ loyal fanbase, and providing fans with unique one-on-one interactions, DMM grew the show’s following by 37% across all channels. During the campaign, His Dark Materials became #2 most social Sci-Fi Series across all of TV, and the #6 most social primetime series on premium cable during the season.
